Birds and Bells was composed in 1995 for the Swedish trombonist Christian Lindberg. As the title suggests it is not a 'roaring' trombone concerto but rather a 'pianissimo concerto' filled with the contents of the title. It must be emphasized that 'bells' here has nothing to do with death or destruction which connoisseurs of my music might be tempted to think. The work is in three movements which are played without a break. The second movement ends with a kind of 'pseudo-nightingale cadenza', and I feel the third to be a slow lullaby.

Birds and Bells was premiered on 30.4.1996 with Christian Lindberg and the Aarhus Sinfonietta conducted by Søren K. Hansen.